Collateral Damage
by shadowed by passion
Summary: Edward always did what he did best - he followed orders. Would he be able to follow through this time? What would happen if he didn't? (Repost - originally a 93 chapter drabble)
1. Chapter 1

**Another repost. There has been a few requests for Collateral Damage to be reposted. Originally a drabble, I couldn't imagine dropping 93 updates back to back into people's inboxes with a repost. So, I have taken and combined the drabble chapters into 13(I think) segments to post.**

 **If this is new to you, enjoy. If it is something you read the first go, maybe you will enjoy it again. I know I did as I re-read it for this reposting.**

* * *

My iPhone ding'ed alerting me to another job…

EC –

Your next job is at echo bravo one eighty-one. Take the third to Highway H. Pick up the equipment and the additional instructions.

EMC

I jumped on my bike and followed the instructions. I knew this ride like the back of my hand, not that I knew the back of my hand all that well, but I made this trip at least once a week.

Why EMC felt to still give directions was fucking stupid, but whatever.

Within five minutes I was at the small studio apartment. After a series of knocks, special code words, and a lovely finger print scan, I was getting my mission details.

Mission sounds very Armyesque, because I definitely was not Army.

* * *

Loaded with a sweet array of guns and ammo, I headed to the van.

Yeah, we had a van and it was black and bullet proof. It was a mean fucker.

It's rare we were ever shot at, but on the rare occasion it was nice to have added armor.

I sat at a stop light reading over the details:

Male

Five foot eight

Short brown hair

Will be in green t-shirt and khakis

Always at corner of 75th and Jackson 3pm.

$10,000

I glanced at the clock.

Fuck! I had ten minutes to get across town.

I floored it, praying I would make it.

* * *

With a minute to spare, I parked the van and set up.

I pulled my black, trusty hoodie over my head.

It blocked my eyes and kept me safe.

The one time I didn't wear it, I look a stray bullet in the shoulder.

Hurt like a fucker, never again.

I saw my target walking to the corner.

I jumped into the back of the van and set my weapon up.

My Winchester model 70 Stealth was better than having a bitch underneath me.

That gun on its own could cause me to bust a nut.

I set my scope and waited for him to stop at the corner.

As long as my shot stayed clear, I would have 10k in my pocket in no time.

* * *

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

I opened and looked to the sight on my weapon to make sure my shot was good.

Aimed at the chest. Straight shot to the heart.

I was twenty feet away. The shot would be good.

I cocked the weapon and pulled the trigger.

My heart raced. Blood pounded though my veins.

He dropped to the ground.

The hit was clean.

I snapped a quick picture with my iPhone and jumped back into the front of the van.

Pulling out into traffic, I messaged EMC back.

 _Hit done. Clean. Wire money._

 _See attachment._

 _EC_

This was my job, it may not have been the noblest jobs, but it was mine.

* * *

Some may say I have issues and really, I might.

I dropped the van back at the house and picked up my bike.

As always, before heading home I took a drive back by the hit location.

The body was gone and only three cops were on scene.

I slowed my bike pulling up along the crime scene tape.

"Whoa, whoa, no crossing, sir."

"Sorry, just trying to head to a friends. What happened?"

"A legal aid attorney. Poor guy was hit by a sniper round. Some sick fucks around here."

Part of me flinched at his words. Not a big part but still a part.

What would he say if he knew I was the one he was hunting down?

* * *

Why did I always follow up on my hits?

Why did I care who they were or what they did?

They were a paycheck.

Someone was willing to pay enough to see them gone.

Morning came and I picked up the local paper.

Front page was my kill.

I added it to the collection.

I was responsible for over five hundred hits throughout the United States and another three hundred overseas. I had the paper for each and every kill.


	2. Chapter 2

_EC_

 _Funds are available._

 _Have another job if you are free._

 _Out of town. Plane will leave in three hours._

 _EMC_

I responded quickly.

 _EMC_

 _I will take it. Send details._

 _EC_

I had no clue what EMC stood for. We met once and I was told to call him Em and he would call me Ed and that was all that mattered. He had my number and I had his. We emailed on a server that his girlfriend made.

They were like a duo assassin team. He set up jobs and she made sure the cops didn't catch on.

My phone dinged with the info.

Ah, England, how I've missed you.

* * *

The flight to England was long.

I reviewed everything for my hit.

I would be here for five hours before I flew back out.

I had a contact to pick up a block of C4 and a short blade.

I missed my rifle when I had to fly.

A short nap and I was getting off the plane in Heathrow.

After picking up the blade and C4 I headed to the mark's house.

She lived alone.

Forty-five.

She beat her kids.

I didn't normally read past the identifiers but the flight was long and I was bored.

I opted for a close kill.

"You hurt those kids," my voice was raw.

My black leather gloves were tight against my knuckles. My hands in tight fists.

She begged for her life as I stalked toward her.

"You. Hurt. Those. Kids." My voice echoed in my ears.

She sucked in a breath. It would be her last.

With skilled precision, I raised my right hand to her neck. The blade was hidden behind my arm.

Blood pooled from the neck. My blade covered.

"Suffer in Hell."

I dropped the knife, set up my explosive, and watched the place blow before a nice fight back.

My contact would mail me the paper.

* * *

EMC offered me a hit as soon as I got home.

I declined.

I never should have read why there was a hit on her.

I never had before.

I knew all of the hits were 'bad' people.

I knew they all deserved it.

I didn't go after the stock broker whose partner wanted an easy way out of their joint company.

I did go after the stock broker who fucked with his partner's son. Or with the money of old people so they ended up broke with no way to support their spouses, or children.

I rid the world of trash.

The fucking evil of the world.

It was my job to get rid of them.

At least that's what I told myself.

* * *

 _EC_

 _Have a job. Do you want it?_

 _EMC_

This was the fifth job that EMC offered me that I would be declining.

 _EC_

 _You need to take a job or I am going to stop offering._

 _How about a change up? Meet me at eighty-third and fifty-three in forty five._

 _If you don't show, our deal is over._

 _EMC_

Well mother fuck.

I strapped my throw away to my ankle, my 9mm to my belt, and pulled my hoodie over my head.

I attached my blade to my other ankle and said a prayer that I wouldn't need to use any of these weapons.

When a boss gets tired of their hitmen, they tend to call their own hits.

Hopping on my bike, I headed to meet EMC.

* * *

"Hard time overseas?"

"Not really. Easy mark. Well deserved."

"Look, Ed, I asked you here because I have a very special mark. We need your pretty face."

"What are we looking at?"

My hand rested on my weapon. I didn't like being face to face with him. He made me nervous and nothing makes me nervous.

Being with Em was like being a kid again. I didn't like it...

"This." He handed over a manila folder. "Her ex wants her heart ripped out – literally and figuratively. Guess she's a pretty face but extremely shady. A lot of drug and assault collars. We need you to get close to her, to work your way into her life. Date her, woo her. I don't give a fuck what you do or how you do it, but do it. Make her fall for you and then leave her. Leave her raw and broken. Then kill her at her lowest."

"I am not the up close and personal like killer, Em. I don't know if I can do this. I don't get up close with anyone." My mind thought back to England.

"You do this or you are out. I will have no further use for you."

Fuck.

"What does it pay?"

"Two hundred and fifty K."

"I'll do it."

"That's the Ed I know." He patted my back.

I patted my gun.

"I will message you with additional details. Read the file get to know what she likes. I will give you a location and time to make the meet tomorrow. If you can't pull this off, our wonderful twelve year relationship will be over."


	3. Chapter 3

She's twenty-five.

Young life.

I thumbed the pages of the file labeled "I.S."

Five assault collars.

Even more drunken and disorderly.

Some petty thefts.

Most of the file was fluff, filler. Nothing to turn my head or make me understand why the hit.

Until I got to the back of the file

I was looking at a well documented crime scene.

Blood splattered the walls in the pictures.

A body laid on the floor, throat slit.

This woman was a cold blooded killer?

Not what I expected.

I flipped to the last page where the final break down of the mark was.

Her height, weight, hair and eye color.

Where she worked, lived, did laundry, and worked out.

But none of that is what caught my eye.

The strikingly beautiful mug shot is what held my attention.

* * *

 _EC_

 _She will be at the laundry in the file._

 _Meet her there._

 _Wash that hoodie._

 _Follow her schedule._

 _Get an in._

 _Three days to make contact before I find someone else._

 _EMC_

I knew Em wasn't being a dick by telling me that.

He had a job to do and as of late, I wasn't being effective in the job.

Before this, I hadn't accepted a job in a month.

One offered each week and I kept declining.

I was the best, quickest, and never left a chance for resuscitation like others had in the past.

I normally ended up ending those people's careers too.

Guess I didn't just kill the guilty, not that they were not guilty…

I hit the store to get some shit to do laundry.

I didn't do laundry, ever.

I just threw out and bought new, a lot.

I walked in the run down laundry mat and my eyes fell on Isabella Swan, murderer.

I watched her as she worked; sorting, folding, all while humming.

She didn't look the part of a murderer, but I didn't look the part of an assassin.

Her hair shined golden as the sun shone brightly through the window.

She didn't look like the same girl that was in that mug shot.

She looked like perfection before me.

How was she a killer?

HOW?

She looked like a mother hen not a mother killer.

I set my newly bought clothes and laundry soap on the counter near her.

I watched and waited, trying to decide how to talk to her…get close to her…kill her.

"Drop this?"

And then there she was, hand holding my newly bought boxers out for me.

"Uh," I paused to clear my throat. Her voice was like music. "Yeah, thanks."

And so it was, she would come to me.

Like prey to the slaughter.

* * *

His eyes had been on me since he entered.

I tried not to stare or even act like I noticed.

But our eyes eventually met and they were some crazy green grass color with a little bit of dead brown grass flecked within the green.

It was different. He was different.

He was mildly threatening looking. I had this urge to run from him. But I also had the urge to run to him.

He was frightening but innocent.

Those two things don't match. But he seemed to be both.

When I heard his voice my heart skipped a beat.

I was so fucked.

* * *

I relooked over the file.

How was that woman a killer?

She was like an angel with brown eyes and a seductive laugh.

She was the first woman in a long time that I wanted to touch.

Why would she have killed anyone? How could she have?

 _EMC_

 _Made contact with the mark._

 _Who gave you the hit?_

 _EC_

I waited and kept re-reading the file.

I had gotten though the file front to back before Em got back to me.

 _EC_

 _Happy to see you still have your balls and can talk to a girl._

 _A reliable source gave me the mark and did all the background research when it was brought to him._

 _Is there a problem?_

 _EMC_

Uh YEAH there is a problem!

 _EMC_

 _She doesn't look like a killer._

 _EC_

His reply was almost automatic

 _EC_

 _And you don't look like an assassin._

 _Now do your job._

 _EMC_

* * *

Em was right; I didn't look like an assassin…I looked like a kid that was in over his head.

I played with the small piece of paper that held Bella's number.

Did I call her or show up at her job that was in the file?

Gas station on eighth.

Would she think I was a stalker, or that it was just coincidence?

I hopped on my bike, I could play this off.

I put the pump in and looked toward the building.

She was just as beautiful, but she wasn't smiling.

She was pissed. She was yelling. She was waving a knife at some guy.

His hands were up in defense.

She took a step toward him with the weapon.

He took a step back.

I ran to the door just as the knife met his throat.


	4. Chapter 4

As I entered the gas station my mind raced.

Did I stop her from taking a man's life?

Did I let it play through and see if she really was capable of murder?

If I didn't stop her and she saw me, would she kill me next? Or what if it her holding the knife is purely self-defense and I don't protect her.

Protect her.

If I protect her it will be a sure way into her life.

My thoughts were mixing together.

I heard Bella yell when she saw me.

The blade was still at the guy's neck.

I didn't want to witness her killing him.

Even if that is what she really was; a murderer, I didn't want to see it.

I pushed him back, away from her. I pushed him to the ground then kicked and kicked.

"Edward, stop." Bella's voice was so quiet. "Just let him go."

The knife was on the ground. It was one they sold at the station. Tears streamed down her face.

Was she sad I interrupted or had he tried to hurt her?

I knew I needed to know the truth but right then I didn't care.

* * *

She fell into my arms; her body shaking.

Murders didn't shake shitless after an encounter like that.

"He…he just…"

"Bella, shh. We can talk about it another time."

The guy finally got up and ran out of the gas station.

I wanted to go after him. Talk to him. Know _why_ he was there.

Instead, I stayed with Bella.

I held her.

I comforted her.

I did what I thought I needed to do to earn her trust.

To get in to her heart, so I could complete my job.

* * *

She asked me to stay.

She called me her savior.

I took her home.

She drove a Volvo.

A mother fucking safe 'mommy' car Volvo.

I could have put my crotch rocket, unsafe vehicle in her trunk.

She curled in my arms and slept.

She shook in her sleep all night.

Woke screaming.

I wanted to comfort her.

I wanted to kill her.

I wanted to get this stupid hit done…but I didn't.

I didn't want to kill her.

I wanted to fail.

I was going to fail.

* * *

What the fuck was I thinking?

There was a fine line between loving your hit and loving to murder your hit.

I had never been close to crossing that line until now.

She said he told her she was going to die.

She said he came at her.

She kept a knife under the counter.

She said she was trying to protect herself, that she was no murderer.

And I believed her.

* * *

 _EMC_

 _I need a new job_

 _EC_

 _EC_

 _Do I need to find someone else to get close to your mark?_

 _EMC_

 _EMC_

 _No, I just need something quick to keep me focused._

 _EC_

 _EC_

 _I will get you something. Be at the house noon tomorrow for info._

 _EMC_

And with that, I would get back on the track of wooing Bella Swan and then killing her slowly.

* * *

Die mother fucker die!

Die, die, die!

I had my mark.

I read his file.

I didn't _need_ to know.

But I _wanted_ to know.

I just needed to kill.

I climbed to the roof of the financial building in town.

I assembled my sniper rifle, and set my sight.

He was walking down fifth.

He had his next mark with him.

She was clueless.

He would take her and rape her…

I closed my eyes, said my peace, and pulled the trigger.

He fell to the ground.

A nice little hole through his skull.

A smile formed on my face as I packed my rifle back up.

* * *

I ditched my rifle on the way to the flower shop.

I bought her flowers.

Roses.

Girls love those, right?

I scribbled a note on the card and had them delivered.

She called me gushing over the beauty of the arrangement.

Simple gestures.

She invited me over for dinner.

I was so out of my element.

 _EMC_

 _I have her complete attention._

 _EC_

* * *

By day I stalked new marks that EMC sent me.

By night I stayed with Bella.

Sometimes in the shadows where she couldn't see me.

Other times sitting right next to her.

I didn't like being seen in public with her but I had to work on getting into her heart.

It had been two weeks since we first met.

The first time she tried to kiss me, I was able to avoid it.

The second time; it wasn't so easy.

She came at me, rubbed her hands on my chest.

I melted under her touch.

No one had ever touched me like that before.

And she was so beautiful…and possibly a killer.

Thoughts of being an assassin team ran through my mind as our lips met.


	5. Chapter 5

I climbed into her bed, thoughts still on if she would be the Bonnie to my Clyde.

I tried to go slow. Take my time.

Slow was not a skill of mine.

I cupped her face in my hand.

Her chest was pounding.

She was exposed.

I _was_ exposed.

I didn't like to be exposed.

I thrust into her.

Her eyes rolled back with the urgency of my movements.

I didn't know how to be sweet, or passionate, or get in to her heart any other way.

So I fucked her hard until her toes curled and she screamed my name.

* * *

She laid her head on my chest.

I wasn't much for cuddling but she wanted it.

Her eyes begged to be held.

"What's this for?" she asked, pointing to my tattoo over my heart.

"It's for my past."

The tattoo was an assassin creed symbol.

Em's whole team had them.

Feathers and blades made up the design.

If she was a killer she would know what it meant.

Maybe it was stupid to let her see it; but I had to know if she knew what it meant.

"It's pretty. Does it have symbolism?" Her fingers traced the design on my chest.

"For me it does."

I looked into her eyes, just as she kissed me. She held no recognition of what it meant.

* * *

 _EC_

 _How is the mark?_

 _EMC_

Curled in my arms…hair fanned out over my chest…

 _EMC_

 _Close._

 _EC_

Bella stirred as I sent off the message.

 _EC_

 _Do you think we can get this wrapped up?_

 _EMC_

I rubbed my hand over my forehead.

 _EMC_

 _I need more time. She won't hurt if she lost me yet._

 _EC_

I know I lied. I needed to lie. I needed more time.

I needed to make sure that she deserved to die…and even if she did, maybe I could change her. Make her like me.

* * *

He was wonderful, perfect even.

He protected me that first night even thought I really didn't need it.

Okay, maybe I did need it. I needed someone to think I needed protection.

He was a dream come true, but I knew it wouldn't last.

I knew once he knew what I had done, he would run.

Once he knew the real me.

Once he knew what I was capable of.

I knew he was hiding things, just as I was, but I didn't want to push. I didn't want him to leave me sooner than he had to.

So until he found out my secrets and left, I would hold him close and let him want me.

* * *

Bella rolled over and snuggled closer to me.

It was strange, weird. Different.

Lying next to Bella was like lying next to a lion. Cozy and warm but dangerous and threatening.

She made me want to not kill. At least not to want to kill her, but I should want to kill her…

It was my job to kill her.

She tightened the hold she had on my body before her eyes fluttered open.

"Morning. Did you sleep good?"

"I did. So, Edward…"

"Yes?" I brushed her hair back from her face. She seemed to like it when I did that.

"Meet my friends? They always say I date the wrong guys, but I you are different. You will prove I finally found the right guy."

* * *

To say I didn't know how to respond to Bella would be an understatement.

Being seen with her, with her friends was a bad idea.

Very bad idea.

When she turned up dead…they would come to me. That could end my career.

"We will see." Such a bad idea…

Bella pouted and she looked so pure. So peaceful. So perfect.

"You could invite some of your friends. It could be nice."

Seeing as my only friends are fellow assassins, I don't think that would go over so well…

"I…I don't know."

Bella rolled away from me and climbed out of bed.

"Just like every other time…" She pulled on her pants. "Same fucking shit." She pulled her shirt over her head. "You can go now."

* * *

Wait?

What?

Huh?

"Bella…no. Stop."

She stopped throwing my clothes at me and mumbling under her breath.

"Why? Are you ashamed of me? Is that why you can't meet my friends? Why you don't want me to meet yours?"

"That's not what it is. Not at all."

Must fix this.

"Just let me call and see if my, uh, friends are available."

"Really?"

I climbed to the end of the bed. "Really."

A smile graced her face.

Now, to find a way to convince Em and Ro to come to dinner with a mark.

* * *

 _EMC_

 _You want this done; I need you to meet me._

 _EC_

 _EC_

 _Meet you how? I am the only one that calls meetings._

 _EMC_

 _EMC_

 _The mark wants to meet my friends._

 _You want me to get close, I have to woo and date and shit._

 _I have no friends. And I defiantly have no friends that can meet a mark._

 _I need you and Ro._

 _EC_

 _EC_

 _When and where?_

 _EMC_

 _EMC_

 _Her place tomorrow night_

 _EC_

 _EC_

 _We will be there._

 _EMC_

* * *

Bella was all excited.

My 'friends' Em and Ro were coming to dinner.

We were going to meet her friends Alice and Jasper.

How couplish.

This was going to be fucking awkward.

Alice was small…she talked a lot.

About how I was different from Bella's other significant others.

Jasper eyed me like I was growing a second head or some shit.

He made me feel like I had 'assassin' written across my forehead in sharpie.

And mother fucking Em and Ro dressed in all black like they were going to a funeral.

Possibly my funeral.

Fuck my life!

* * *

So…dinner…

"Em, Ro, are your names short for something? Edward didn't say."

Oh Bella, it's because I don't know.

"Why, yes. Emmett and Rose, but we like short and sweet much better."

Emmett, nice name, kept his eye on me as he said that. Yeah, he is _not_ liking how long this is taking me to seal.

The conversation was not flowing. So uncomfortable.

Emmett played with his food. I don't think he ate anything that he hadn't seen her prepare.

"Edward, Bella didn't tell us what you did for a living," Alice said.

Jasper just glared.

"Oh well I have an independent company. I work on commission. If you need something found, or done, I'm your man."

"Sounds…interesting. If there a lot of money in lost and found work?"

"More than you would imagine."

"What about you Emmett, what do you do?" Alice, shut the fuck up.

"I tend to locate jobs for Eddie boy here to do. I keep him busy, keep him on task, and step in when he's failing."

As Alice went on about how I was a better catch than Peter had ever been, I knew, if I didn't take care of Bella soon, Emmett would.


	6. Chapter 6

"So that friend of yours is weird."

"Yeah…sorry about that. He is kind of not the friendly kind. That's why I was worried about this whole _friend_ thing."

"So what exactly do you do for a living? What you told Alice didn't make a lot of sense."

"Like I said, if you need something done, or found, I do it."

"Oh…so that is why I never see you running off to the office?"

"Pretty much."

Having her meet Em and Ro really was fucking with me. Hard!

"So…who is Peter?"

"You caught that, huh?"

"Yep. So who is he?"

Maybe he is who put the hit out on her…

"He is a guy I dated, married, and then divorced."

"Oh… why did you split up?"

Ninety-five percent sure he is the guy…

"He just wasn't who I thought he was. I would really rather not talk about it…"

With that Bella lowered her head and cried.

* * *

Oh course Alice had to mention him.

Peter.

The man I gave my heart to.

My soul to. My life to.

I gave him every part of me…and then he ran off with every ounce of who I was.

He left me in a sea of pain, hurt, and blood.

He left me not knowing who I was anymore.

He broke my heart in more ways than one and I prayed that I would never have to think about him again.

I hoped that Edward would have been too focused on the weird looks that Emmett was giving him to listen to what Alice said.

But he heard and now he wants to talk about it.

And I don't want to think about it. I don't want to think about the blood that was on my hands because of him.

Peter, I wish I could kill you.

* * *

We met when I was sixteen.

He was the light of my life.

All I ever knew.

We dated thought the last few years of high school and into college.

He was my first, my last, my only…before Edward.

The week before our junior year of college, he proposed on a pier, just as the sun set. It was beautiful, something you would see in a romance film.

We married the following fall in a small wedding. It was what my heart always wanted. It's what I dreamed about since I was a child.

But eighteen months into the marriage, things on weird. He got weird, we got weird.

And now, three years since we said 'I do,' I was wishing we never had.

"Bella, are you okay?"

I don't know how long I had been standing there, middle of the kitchen, dish in hand, spacing out.

"Yeah, fine." I wiped the tears from my face. "Look, thanks for dinner and your friends and such, but I need some space."

"Yeah, sure, okay. I will talk to you tomorrow."

Tomorrow I pray I won't still be here…

"Of course."

He kissed me before leaving.

I would miss him.

* * *

Bella looked so fucking torn, but she wanted me to leave and I wanted to stay but needed to leave.

I needed to find out who this 'Peter' guy was.

I messaged Emmett when I left, letting him know I was still on target and thanks for the not so subtle hints at dinner.

He told me to go fuck myself and kill the girl.

 _One track mind._

I pulled out the IS file as soon as I got home and made some coffee.

I hated the shit, but I had a long night ahead of me.

I flipped thought the pages and pages of information on her.

I compared what I knew with that I was reading.

What on this paper didn't match what she showed me? That was what was important.

The name Peter didn't come up in any of the files.

He had to be the one that issued the hit.

I booted up my laptop and prayed I could find some information on Isabella Swan with a Peter.

* * *

Thank fuck for Facebook.

I was able to locate pictures, his sister, and information on his late mom.

With that I was able to find his life story.

Peter Wilson; twenty six, brown hair, blue eyes, and murdered six weeks earlier.

Well fuck.

 _EMC_

 _What do you know on a Peter Wilson?_

 _EC_

If anyone knew, about this Peter guy it would be Em.

 _EC_

 _He was the hired hit you had back at echo bravo one eighty-one about six weeks ago._

 _EMC_

Oh…

* * *

I wanted to ask Em who ordered that hit.

Did the same guy order both hits?

Fuck!

I paced me living room trying to decide what to do.

Did that Peter guy deserve to get killed?

Did I go through with it because on the surface it looked right?

If I dug deeper would I find out that he didn't deserve it either?

My mind was spinning trying to think back to the particulars of that kill.

Legal aid lawyer…cheap hit.

Why was he worth so little, but Bella was worth so much?

Whoever ordered this hit really wanted _her_ dead.

* * *

I knew if I didn't come up with a dead Bella soon, someone else who didn't care as much as me might.

I wanted to laugh at the fact that I am a hit man with a heart.

Just killing to kill doesn't make sense to me, but killing to rid everyone else of bad does make sense.

I picked up my phone and called Bella. I needed to know she was okay and ask her some serious questions.

"Hello." She sounded out of breath.

"Hey. What are you doing? Is everything okay? You were very worked up when I left."

Yeah, I can play the concerned boyfriend…

"Yeah, just trying to clean up around here."

"Bella, look, I need to talk to you. Can I come back over?"

"It's after one in the morning…"

"Don't care. We need to talk…now."

* * *

I got to Bella's house as fast as I could.

I knew what I was hired to do. I was hired to kill her, but I just didn't want to anymore.

Well, I wanted to – I wanted the money – but I wanted Bella more.

Out of breath, I knocked on the door to her apartment.

The door creaked open.

Fuck.

"Bella!" My voice was shaky. Worried. Scared…for her.

Her apartment was farthest from clean.

She told me she was cleaning.

I had just hung up with her fifteen minutes earlier.

Could they have hired someone else?

"Bella!"

I didn't want to panic. I wasn't one for panic, but I wanted to make sure she was okay…

I didn't want her dead.

"Bell-"

"What? Stop yelling."

"What happened to your living room? It looks like a train wreck."

"Yeah…I…it's just, I need to go."

I knew she was hiding something from me…

* * *

"Go? Go where?"

"Things are weird, Edward. There is a lot about my past that you don't know and I just don't feel safe here anymore. I lost my job at the school a week ago so I can't afford to stay here anymore."

"I thought you worked at a gas station."

She laughed. "Yeah, I work there part time to have a few extra bucks. I am well _was_ a second grade school teacher. Now I am just unemployed teacher working at a gas station."

Bella's face fell to her hands and she quietly sobbed.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I…I didn't tell you because I wasn't allowed…I really…I've said too much. Edward, you should go. I'm not good."

* * *

I wanted to smack her, shake her, tell her she is remarkably better than me.

Even if she had killed, she was still better than me.

Instead I covered my face with my hands and rubbed it, hard.

I was sure my face looked bright red and raw.

"You have to tell me. I need to know."

For the first time since I met Bella, I didn't want to kill her at all.

Before there was always an underlying desire to slit her throat, or stab her with a knife in the heart just after I told her my purpose.

Seeing her broken and in pain, made me soft.

"Edward…"

"Bella, tell me about Peter."

"I…I can't."

"Bella, Peter is dead, now tell me."


	7. Chapter 7

Confusion then understanding flashed over Bella's face.

She knew why he was dead.

"How did he die?" she asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"He was killed. Why was he killed, Bella. Tell me."

I wanted to tell her she was in danger. I wanted to tell her I was hired to kill her…and him.

"He was a bad man, and if he is dead, then I really need to go."

"More, Bella." I placed my hands on her and shook her. "I need to know more."

My eyes focused on hers.

She shook her head and pulled away from my grasp.

"I've said too much. Just please."

"Bella, tell me."

I tried to convey the need to know as I placed my foot on her dining room chair and unhooked my throw away from my ankle.

* * *

"Wha…wha…what the fuck, Edward?"

Bella had her hands up and she was backing away from me.

I kept at what I was doing. I placed the clip on the counter and emptied the bullet in the chamber.

I set the gun down and looked up at her.

Her eyes were wide, ready to pop out.

"Bella, please don't be scared."

"Little late for that. Why do you have a gun? Who are you?" She started to shake.

How did I tell her I was hired to kill her without having her run from me or scream?

"Tell me why Peter was killed and I will tell you everything you want to know."

"He was really fucked up. Why do you have a gun?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I wanted to tell her that she really didn't answer mine so I wasn't going to answer hers, but that would be rather childish, so I opened my mouth and prayed this wouldn't scare her away.

"Bella, I have a gun because I was hired to kill you."

* * *

Bella screamed a shrill scream before she ran away from me, effectively into her bedroom, leaving her no escape route.

"St-st-stay away from me."

I walked toward her quickly with my hands in the air as surrender.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"Bull shit. You just told me you were going to kill me." Her eyes searched the room, more than not looking for something to defend herself with.

"No, I said I was hired to kill you. I didn't say I was going to."

"Same difference."

"No, Bella, if I was going to kill you, you would have already been dead."

Bella dropped to her knees, sobbing as I walked closer to her.

* * *

With her tied to the chair in her kitchen and her mouth taped, I was able to relax in knowing she couldn't run, but was also on edge because I wanted her.

I wanted her unlike anyone else I had ever wanted. With her tied to the chair, sweating, chest pounding out of fear, my need just increased.

She was helpless. In this moment she needed my want for her to overrule the job I was given.

"I've never not followed through on a hit…ya know that?"

Her eyes grew wide at my words.

"If I take the tape off, promise not to yell?" I tried to convey with my eyes that I wouldn't hurt her…yet, if ever.

She nodded her head.

Just as the final piece of tape was pulled and balled up she yelled 'help.'

"Damn it, Bella." I wanted to smack her but I knew if I hit her that wouldn't prove anything to her so I did the next best thing and kissed her, hard.

* * *

The kiss stopped abruptly when I realized Bella was not kissing back.

I pulled away and covered her mouth with my hand.

Yeah, maybe not the nicest move, but I needed her to listen and not yell.

"Bella, I am not going to kill you. Okay?"

She nodded.

"If I move my hand, please don't scream. I want to talk to you. Okay?"

Again, she nodded.

I moved my hand slowly and she didn't scream

"Thank you for listening!"

"What do you want then if you're not going to kill me?" Her words were laced with anger. If I planned to kill her, I would have done it right then.

"I want to know why I was hired to kill you. And to know that, I need to know about Peter."

"Told you, bad dude." Her words were short.

"Why was he bad?" Stay calm…don't back hand her.

"Can you untie me so we can talk?" Remorse?

"You gonna run?"

"Yes."

"Then no."

* * *

Bella looked frustrated and pissed.

"Fine. We met young, married young, and I guess before we were married, he got involved in some pretty fucked up stuff. He was in college for finance. I was for elementary education. Once we got married, he kept doing what he was doing. He was interning at a financial office and ended up siphoning money from some pretty powerful people's accounts." She stopped talking and looked at me. Her eyes were fierce. Something told me this was not the first time she had been face to face with possible death and she was holding back.

"Continue."

"Untie me!" She wiggled a bit, scratching the chair on the tile.

"Bella, I would love to untie you, but I don't trust you to stay put."

"You just enjoy me like this."

"Maybe I do, but I need answers from you, so I have no problem keeping you tied up 'til I get them." I sat on the floor in front of her. I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. My eyes were set on Bella, my prize.

"Fine. Just so you know, you were a lot hotter before I knew you wanted me dead. Maybe you should have asked these questions post sex instead of this way."

* * *

"So, Peter was taking money from people left and right. I thought he was getting bonus' at work, I never knew. Well one day this guy came knocking on our door. Asked for Peter. I didn't know what was going on. The guy beat the shit out of him pretty bad. We had been married for about six months at that time."

"Who was the guy?"

"Dunno. He never came back. I saw his picture on the front page of the paper a few months later that he had been missing and was found dead in a retention ditch. His name was Riley something. I asked Peter about it and he told me not to worry, that it was not my problem."

"But it was your problem, huh?"

"Yeah." She stopped and laughed. "After that guy's body was found, we started getting weird calls at home, cars were following me. I was freaked out."

"Then what."

"Then I told Peter I didn't give a shit what he was doing, but it was getting to be too much for me. Our desire was gone, things were tense so I left and filed for divorce. I loved him, but the tension in our house was too much. He was doing things I didn't want to be part of.

"The last time I saw Peter, I was tied to a chair similar to like this. Peter begged them to let me go. That I didn't know anything, but I was sure just by being there I knew too much. Guess I was right since you were sent to kill me."

* * *

"Peter too."

Bella's eyes grew wide. "You?"

"Yeah. It's my job."

"So, Emmett and Rose are not just your friends? You all said you were in the same business."

"Yeah."

"And now I know too much again, huh?"

"Quite possible. Can you tell me who the guys are that took you and him? I'm sure they are who ordered the hit."

"Yeah, the Vulturi brothers. I heard Peter say their names when they thought I was passed out. Their interrogation technique was much harsher than yours."

My heart hurt for her. The feeling was new and it scared me. I never felt pain for another before.

This isn't good…

* * *

Just as I came to the realization that my feelings for her were more than casual, my phone tinged.

New text.

 _EC_

 _Status?_

 _EMC_

Well fuck!

 _EMC_

 _Closer. Who ordered the hits?_

 _EC_

Part of me doubted he would tell me but part of me hoped he would over look that rule this one time.

 _EC_

 _You know I can't tell you that._

 _You have a week to close the deal before I intervene._

 _EMC_

Well fuck.

"Bella, do you trust me when I tell you that I won't kill you?"

"I…I…I don't know."

"I don't know how I can prove it, but you have to trust me, because we have to run. Now!"


	8. Chapter 8

I untied Bella, slowly.

"Just don't run. Trust you are safer with me," I said as I loosened the last knot.

I patted her shoulders letting her know she could get up and she ran. To the door.

Fucking spunky insane bitch. Maybe I wasn't sure that I didn't want to kill her.

"Help!" she yelled as she opened the door to the hall of her apartment.

"Seriously? Do you want to die?" I took the five steps to pull her back into the apartment and close the door.

"Look, Bella, we have to go, away from here."

I placed my hands on her arms and looked at her until our eyes met.

"You have to trust me. Please. Trust me."

* * *

With minimal attempts at running away, I was able to get Bella to my place.

I handcuffed her to my bed. She was sitting up. It was not sexual, I think. I just needed her to stay put and to stop trying to run away.

You would think after four failed attempts she would just stop.

I sat in the door way of my bedroom with the papers I got the day I completed the hit on Peter and the file on Bella.

"Who is this?" I threw a picture on to the bed. It was of a middle aged man.

"That's my father."

"Would they try to kill him too? Does he know anything?"

"He knew about the money…that Peter got bonuses, but that's all."

"If I let you call him, will you tell him to take a vacation? I will pay for it as long as you convince him to hide."

She nodded.

"Before I give you the phone, tell me, who is this?"

I threw the picture of the dead woman, blood splattering the room in the picture.

Her face contorted to one of pain.

"That's...that's my mother."

* * *

Her mother?

She killed her mother?

Not possible.

Not with the pain that her face showed when she looked at that picture.

"How did she die?"

"Someone shot her in the back of her head after torturing her with a knife. The M.E. said she was probably dead from loss of blood before they shot her. It was too hard to tell from all the blood all over the place."

She moved the hand that wasn't hand cuffed to my bed and made the sign of the cross. She mumbled a few words that I couldn't make out. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

I left the doorway and climbed into bed next to her.

"Do you know who killed her?"

I wanted to touch her. I wanted to comfort her as her single tear turned into downright sobs.

"No." She shook her head. "No, I don't."

* * *

I was frozen as she sobbed uncontrollably.

The part of me I never knew I had wanted to cry right along with her while the rest of me wondered if she was an awesome con artist.

Was she lying? Could I not kill her and keep her for myself if she was?

My hand moved slowly where the rest of me stayed still.

My hand rested on her knee and the quick intake of breath Bella took told me she was still scared of me.

Her sobs got louder and louder until I feared someone would hear her.

I moved my hand from her leg and instead wrapped my arms around her.

Her body shook under me and that's what I wanted. Her under me.

I placed my mouth next to her ear; my hold tight on her so she couldn't move at all.

"Bella, don't be afraid. Please."

"Did you kill my mother?" she asked between her sobs.

"No, Bella. I didn't kill your mother. How long ago was she killed?"

"Before I married Peter. I wasn't even eighteen. So almost ten years ago."

Her sobs got louder.

I needed her to calm down because whoever ordered the hit on Peter and her had access to a cold case murder file.

That wasn't good.

* * *

 _EMC_

 _Can you be at my place in twenty?_

 _EC_

It might be stupid to have Em come to me, but he believed as I do.

We only kill those that deserve it, not just anyone.

 _EC_

 _Are we celebrating a job well done? Be there in twenty._

 _EMC_

Yeah, something like that.

I didn't tell Bella he was coming because I planned on not letting him see her. I kept her handcuffed to the bed and I told her to stay put. I got her a glass of water and a sandwich. She looked at me like I was crazy, but maybe I was to think that she would eat something I was giving her. I reassured her I had no desire to kill her, so hopefully she would see I wasn't poisoning her.

Before Em showed up, Bella called her father. She stuck to the script I gave her and told him to go take a vacation to northern Michigan, that they had nice fishing. She told him that a ticket would be waiting for him at the airport, but to go. He deserved it that she was giving this to him.

Either he didn't know his daughter well, or he just didn't care, because he didn't question Bella's tone. It was clear to me that she was upset and I had only known her for weeks. If she was my daughter, I would have questioned it.

Just as she hung up, there was a knock on the door.

It was time for me to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

Em came in with a case of beer.

"So do you have pictures of the kill? This is big money I need to make sure I can prove it was done."

"Well, Em, that is why I called you. I can't kill her."

"What!" he yelled.

"Well it's just… the file isn't right. She isn't a murderer. I can't kill her!"

"It's a quarter of a mil, bro."

"So, I should lose all my values for money?"

"Damn fucking right you should! This is my money you are talking about too."

"Mother fucker, I won't kill her. You won't kill her. Got it?"

I stepped up in his face. I had never defied Em's order before.

"If I tell you to, you will." His hands were on my shoulders, pushing me back. "Look, Ed, you are my most valuable assassin. I expect better out of you. You have to come through on this."

"How about I still get you your money, I just do it my way?"

"If you can promise this pay check, deal."

* * *

Em left with a bit more reassurance from me and a date that I promised to deliver a dead Bella via photo to his phone.

Two weeks. Tops.

When I walked back into the room to check on Bella she was asleep.

Her face was on my pillow; streaks of still damp tears ran down to her cheeks where the moisture was still evident.

She cried herself to sleep.

How much did she hear of Em's and mines conversation? Was that why she cried or just the situation as a whole?

I wanted to wake her, tell her my idea to keep her alive, but I figured sleep would be better before I added my idea of killing her into the mix of everything.

I grabbed the other pillow, a blanket, and laid on the floor next to the bed.

I prayed that once she could sleep, she would see I really wouldn't follow through on this hit.

* * *

I woke to Bella screaming, loudly.

I tried to calm her down.

I looked to the clock. It was one in the morning. If the neighbors heard her, I would have some explaining to do.

"Bella, shhh."

Her sobs broke as she opened her eyes and looked at me.

The look she gave me was soft, as if she forgot the last day we had together, that was until she tried to move her arm and realized she was handcuffed to my bed and it was all real.

I waited for her to scream, to try to hit me with her other hand, but instead she sat back against the headboard, crossed her arms and huffed.

"You are really not going to kill me?"

"Really not going to."

"Then can you please uncuff me? I need to pee."

A small smile played on her lips.

"You're gonna try and run, aren't you?"

"Maybe not. If you are not going to kill me, and there is this hit out on me, maybe the best place to stay is close to you."

I unhooked Bella and watched as she walked toward the bathroom, not making any attempt to run away.


	9. Chapter 9

Bella walked out from the bathroom just as my phone dinged.

 _EC_

 _So, since you are not going to kill her, I have another for you._

 _Bring the bitch that stole your heart to the meet, she needs to see what you are capable of._

 _Eight fifteen. I will be there personally for this._

 _EMC_

Bella looked at me as if I had grown another head.

"What? Change your mind?"

"You have a smart mouth, ya know?"

"Edward, I have come to a realization, I might die even if it is not by your hand very soon. I need to live what time I have left however keeps me smiling so when I do go, I will go with that smile still there."

"Good way to look at it I guess. Get back to sleep, I have to take you somewhere tomorrow."

Panic covered her face before she nodded and climbed back into bed.

I left the handcuffs off. If she was going to run she was right, if I didn't kill her, someone else would.

* * *

I woke in Edward's bed. It was a strange place to be for many reasons.

One I had never been in it before and two, I was only in it because there was a hit put on me and he was to carry it out.

He said he wouldn't kill me and I trusted him, although I knew he was more than capable of killing me without a second thought.

Edward was in a black hoodie, gloves, and jeans. He was stunning, even as a killer.

"Where are we going?"

"You will see. Put this on." He handed me a matching get up with a belt.

By the time we left to go wherever it was we were going, I was swimming in Edward's clothes.

He told me it was necessary to be dressed as such for where we were going.

He promised he was going to protect me but what he had to do today, had to get done.

Edward drove my car and we ended up at a warehouse.

Emmett stood outside.

Fear coursed through me.

"So, if you…you…you're not going to kill me, is he? Am I in black for my own funeral?" I started to sniffle as the last of the words left my mouth.

I wasn't a good Catholic, hardly even practicing anymore, but I made the cross gesture and said a prayer.

"Bella, Bella, he is not going to kill you either. Promise."

I sucked in a deep breath before I got out of the car, possibly to face my death.

* * *

I stood back and Edward talked with Emmett.

He was getting some papers and then a black metal box of something.

"Bella, this way," Edward yelled to me.

I followed him from a distance. Emmett stayed standing right where he was when he was talking with Edward.

He nodded at me as I passed him. I kept my eyes on him, never talking them off until I was passed where he stood.

Then I ran to Edward.

"Even if he isn't going to kill me, he still scares me."

Edward didn't respond. He walked to a van and opened the door.

"Get in."

I did as I was told and he closed the door on me.

We drove in silence. In an eerie silence. I didn't like it. It worried me.

I knew I was safe...well I thought I was.

"Where are we going?" I asked after we had been driving twenty minutes.

"You'll see."

Silence again over took the van until Edward pulled over.

* * *

"Why are we here? For that matter, where is here?"

"We are here because I have another hit I need to do and you have to sit and watch."

My eyes bugged and I sucked in a deep breath. Edwards face showed no emotion.

"You're going to do what while I watch?"

"Just sit here, shut up, and watch through these." He handed me some binoculars. "You have to see what I am capable of."

I watched as Edward took a shotgun out of the box Emmett gave him and quickly assembled it.

"This is a sniper rifle. I normally don't do distance kills. There is too many variables, but with watching I didn't want you to do anything stupid."

Oh...

Edward set up and told me to put the binoculars to my eyes and watch.

He scoped his target.

Black shirt. Gray pants. Wild long black hair.

Edward tells me he molested children.

He lines the shot and I want to close my eyes but I can't. I watch through the binoculars as this man is walking down the street one minute, then laying in a pool of blood the next.

* * *

She wasn't scared. She didn't flinch. She didn't even shy away from me when I turned toward her, rifle still in my hand.

"Wow."

"So, that's what I am. A killer. I could kill you. If I was smart, I would have killed you, instead of getting my emotions all involved with you."

"I'm happy you got involved."

This woman shocked me over and over.

As I bent down to dis-assemble my gun, Bella knelt down beside me.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, but if I am going to find out who wants you dead, you need to know what I can do."

Bella was silent.

I kept my head down, on my weapon, as I placed the parts back into the box. I feared seeing that I scared her and I wasn't sure why I was so worried.

Why did I care about her?

I lifted my head to look at her and instead of fear and pain in her eyes, I saw desire and lust.

* * *

Bow chicka bow wow... lol

* * *

 **Chapter 67: Chapter 67**

* * *

So, meet me at the bottom...

* * *

I slowly reached my hand to her face. Our eyes were locked on one another's.

I palmed her cheek and ran my thumb over her lips. They were soft. I missed her kiss.

Even in the short time we were a 'couple,' I started to enjoy her touch. Her feel. Just her.

Her lips touched mine first. Her hands found their way into my hair.

It was perfection; she was perfection, until I remembered where we were.

"Bella, not here. We have to move. The cops will be able to get the trajectory of the bullet sooner than later."

Bella licked her lips before touching her finger tips to them.

"Yeah, we should go."

My hands were peeling her clothes off as soon as the door to my apartment closed.

Between nips and kisses we disrobed one another.

"After everything you know?"

"Yes."

I laid her back on the bed before I pushed into her.

Bella's moans mixed well with the skin against skin sounds.

Her insides clenched around me and her nails clawed at my back as we both found release in each other.

* * *

I woke ready to start the hunt for who put the hit out on Bella.

I rolled over ready to hold her and pray she didn't regret last night, but instead of wrapping myself around her, I wrapped myself around a cold pillow.

She left.

"Bella?" I called to her. I prayed she just woke before me. I prayed she wouldn't leave. I don't know who wants her dead and if she took off before I knew that…

"I'm here. Figured as an assassin, you would be a bit more jumpy, but I guess not."

I blinked my eyes in the dark trying to find her but shut them tight when she flipped on the overhead light.

"Better?" Her tone was different and close. She had moved toward me.

I rubbed my eyes and as I opened them, I was face to face not with Bella, but the barrel of my twenty-two.


	10. Chapter 10

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Bella. What are you doing?"

Her hand was shaking and the gun, if she decided to fire, would overtake her instead of her overtaking it at this point.

"I'm…I'm defending myself. Last night, that was a mistake. I don't know what overcame me, but I can't just roll over and wait for you to kill me."

"Bella, I have told you, I will not kill you."

I reached up and grabbed hold of the gun barrel. I moved it so it was no longer pointed at my face.

"You only point a gun at someone if you plan to kill them. Do you plan to kill me?"

"Uh, um, no."

"Then please, put it down."

A tear slid down her face as she laid the gun on the bed next to me. I quickly moved it so it was no longer within her reach.

"Bella, just, let's put the last five minutes behind us and find out who wants you dead before they find someone else to kill you."

* * *

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her on top of me. Her heart raced and her face flushed.

"We are going to stop in the police department and get some info from a friend of mine. He will be able to help us out…maybe."

"You have cop friends? Do they know what you do?"

"Yes and no. No one but Em, Rose, and now you know what I do."

Bella and I got ready and we headed to the police station. I was going to ask my friend, Jake, if he had any intel on dirty cops or anything.

I filled Bella in on my suspicions that whoever ordered the hit had inside knowledge of her mother's cold case. Therefore, was probably a cop.

She trembled slightly as we walked hand in hand into the police station.

"Edward, long time no see. Here to see Jake?"

Bella tensed at my side. I doubted anyone noticed the change in her that wasn't getting their hand death gripped.

"Uh, yeah, Aro. Do you know where he is?"

"Yeah, man. Back in his office. I'm pretty sure he is in with the Chief at the moment. So, who is this pretty lady?"

"This here, is my girlfriend."

"Didn't realize you dated much. Never seen you with someone before."

"Well, when I met Bella here about six months ago, I knew she was the one to settle me down."

Bella's hand tightened even more.

"Everything okay, sugar plum?" Bella was cutting the blood flow to my fingertips.

She swallowed and looked me in the eye. "Yes, darling. Just sleepy. Think the baby is ready for a nap." She rubbed her abdomen.

I smiled at her ability to keep up with me, especially right now.

"Well, Aro, nice catching up, but I will go wait back by Jake's office. Nice chatting with ya."

I patted Aro on the back without letting go of Bella's hand. Granted I'm sure if I let go of her, she would have fell to the floor.

I didn't need Jake anymore. I knew who called the hit. Now I just had to hope my lie was good enough so Aro didn't realize I was the hit man he hired.

* * *

I pulled Bella close to my chest and wrapped my arm around her in a protective manner.

My arm brushed Aro's as we walked by. I rubbed Bella's abdomen to play up the 'pregnancy' thing.

Once we were around the corner, I pushed Bella up against the wall.

To any passerby, we looked like two people in love, whispering and kissing one another.

"How do you know Aro, mommy?"

Bella relaxed a bit as I spoke.

"I don't."

"Then why the hostile reaction, mommy-kins?"

"You are one messed up guy, Edward."

"Hey, that's no way to talk about the father of your child."

"If I didn't need your protection…"

"How do you know him?"

"I know his voice. I don't think he ever saw me. I didn't see him but you never know."

"Well, let's go talk to Jake and then we will figure out where Aro fits in all of this."

I kissed her cheek and led her to Jake's office.

"Jake, my man."

"Edward. What do I owe this visit?"

"Just wanted to stop by, ask you if you had any intel on shady fuckers in your unit."

"We cleaned house a few months ago. Got rid of some real shit. I don't think I have any left. Why? Do you know different?"

"No." I shook my head. "Not really, but if I do, I will let ya know."

I chit chatted with Jake for a few more minutes until Bella said the 'baby' was hungry.

While Jake was preoccupied with 'baby talk' with Bella, I slipped 'Aro's' file from the cabinet.

* * *

I wrapped my arm around Bella, smuggling the file out under my coat between us.

"Jake seems like a decent guy," she said as we climbed back into her car.

"Really, Bella? Didn't strike you as a law man type."

"Well after I realized that I was so close to love with a killer, maybe lawman in the way to go."

Oh…

"I didn't realize. I really was convincing when it came to getting you to fall for me, huh?"

"Doesn't matter. It was all a lie anyways."

I stopped buckling myself in and turned to look at her.

"Do you think that? That it was a lie?"

"Well, you said it yourself – you had a job to do."

"And if it was all for the job, wouldn't I have went through with it?" She didn't answer so I kept going. "I didn't go through with it because I care about you. I have never been made to get close to a mark, at least not like I had with you. But I was forced to get close to you, know you, learn about you. In doing that, I found out that things are not always what they seem. Sometimes what looks bad is really so very good. It started as a job, but I thought ended as so much more." I took her hand before I continued. "If I wanted to make the quick buck, I could still kill you." She flinched. "But I don't want that. I'd rather lose my job and reputation as a contract killer before killing you."

* * *

Aro Anderson was the bastard child of Jane Anderson.

What a nice header into Aro's psyche eval.

"So you think he is the one that ordered me dead?"

"I don't think so, but I think he was involved. Maybe got the info to make you look dirty."

I sat there and flipped through Aro's file as Bella thumbed through hers.

"What the fuck?"

"Huh?" I looked over and Bella was holding the mug shot of her.

"I've…oh shit."

"What?"

"Edward, I've never been arrested."

"Okay, so they faked the picture like everything else, what's the problem?"

"The problem is this is a real picture."

* * *

"But you just said…"

"Yeah I know. See, back my freshman year of college, there was this guy that was friends with Peter. He was a few years older than us. He decided to go to the police academy. After he got hired on at the local department, he let us all come in and get fake prints and mug shots taken. I haven't seen the picture since that day."

"What's his name?"

"Riley something or other."

"Is he still a cop?"

"Don't know. He tended to do stupid shit. I just don't know."

"It's fine. Look we need to plan your death while I figure some things out."

Her face turned white.

"Sorry, fake death. Plan the fake death. I need to document the killing to, ya know, prove I did it."

"Oh."

"So look, I am going to get that ready and make some calls to finish this. You think of something nice to wear. We will stop at your place to get it in a few. You will need to be dressed for you funeral." I winked at her as I headed out to call Em.

* * *

"Yeah, I get it. You won't change your mind to kill her."

"Correct."

"And you plan on getting me my money how?"

"I plan on getting us our money by faking her death."

"And you plan on doing that how?"

"Just trust me okay? Now look, I know it is against your rules or whatever, but I need to know who ordered this hit."

"Ed, as much as I've grown to love you like a brother, I just can't."

"Seriously, I am ready to kill you, Em, brother or not. Just tell me if the last name is Volturi."

Silence.

Fucking silence.

"Ed…"

"Em, you told me all I need to know. How do you feel about picking up the funds for this hit together?"

"I think you are a genius."

"I'll let you know when Bella is dead."

Em laughed as he disconnected the call.

I turned to a shocked Bella, tears down her face.

"I don't do well with the crying shit. Ready to go get all dressed up for your last day on earth?"

She sniffled. "You…you are not funny."


	11. Chapter 11

I didn't know if it was hormones or what, but Bella didn't talk to me on the whole ride to her place. I tried to convince her that I was just joking with Em and that I had a plan in my mind to pull this off, but everything I said was met with just silence.

Bella jumped out of her car as soon as I pulled in front of her building. I stalked behind her carrying my bag of clothes to change into.

After having two doors slammed in my face on the way to her apartment, we were there, and Bella was naked.

Focus.

"Uh, dress into something nice that you don't mind getting ruined."

"Ruined by what?"

"Blood, my dear. I have to fake your death…it won't be clean."

"Oh."

Bella dressed in a hot…like a mother fucking hot ass dress. It was black and she was in heels and I had to focus that I was going to come at her with my gun…and not my dick.

I changed into a black suit. Part of me feared that I wouldn't be able to pull this off, but I knew that if I wanted her to live, I had to make her death look good.

* * *

With a hand gun hidden in the waist of my suit pants, another strapped to my right leg, and my throw away on a chest strap, Bella and I headed out for her last night alive.

I took her to dinner then to see a play.

Romeo and Juliet seemed somewhat fitting.

As the play came to an end, I wrapped her in my arms. I knew she could feel the hard metal between us.

"Bella, I want you to know, no matter how this ends, what I felt for you when I decided to save you was real. I was told I had to get you to love me, but I fell for you as well. And once this is done, I will replace that dress, because you look hot in it."

"Why do you always ruin your complements with the reality of this?"

"Just who I am. Sorry."

"So what now?"

"Now, we head to the side alley and make out until I kill you."

I winked and grabbed her hand as her jaw dropped again.

At least this time she didn't cry.

* * *

"So, how are you going to do this?" Bella whispered into my ear as we walked toward the alley.

"Well," I took her hand in mine and swung them back and forth until we are in the alley. "I am going to take you and wrap my arms around you." I stopped talking to do just that.

"Then I am going to push you up against the brick wall." Bella backed against the wall, pulling me with. I ran my right hand down the left side of her body. I cupped her ass before I pulled her leg up around my waist.

"Now I am going to kiss you until your toes curl."

Our mouths met and tongues intertwined.

It was beautiful.

I broke the kiss just as Bella started to moan.

"Fuck, Edward."

I took a few deep breaths to get my bearings.

"And now, now I am going to pull the knife from my belt and stab you with it."

* * *

I pulled the blade out just as our lips met.

Bella wasn't worried. She didn't even break the kiss when my hand left her body and went to reach for my knife.

She didn't flinch as the tip of the knife poked her rib cage.

Our tongues danced in each other's mouths. I bit her lower lip just as I pushed the knife harder.

She didn't flinch. She knew it was coming. She expected every bit of it.

I pushed until the handle was against her ribs.

"You know I love you, Isabella. I hate that it had to be this way."

"I know. I love you, Edward."

"It's time to let go and fall baby."

I unsheathed the knife from her body and stepped back.

Bella slumped against the wall and fell to the ground, her dress darkened with blood.

I wiped the knife on the front of my pants before turning to look to my right.

"Did you get it all, Em?"

"Better believe I did. Let me get a few close up shots of her laying there before we take off."

* * *

"Ed, this is the first time I've seen you at work, and I must say, amazed."

"Why thank you. While you take your pictures, I am going to make sure that our perimeter is still secure."

I walked around the area Em had secured for me.

We didn't want some Good Samaritan coming across Bella and me and stopping my hit.

That would have been bad. This was the first hit I carried out in public that was hands on.

I sighed.

This part was going to kill me.

I walked back to where Em parked the van. I took out the gas can and walked back to where Bella lie.

Em stood over her, snapping a few more pictures of the rip in the dress, the blood pooling on the ground, and the lifeless face of my Bella.

"Got what you need?" I asked Em.

"Yep. Ready to light it up?"

"No other choice. Thanks for looking into the insurance on the building. It's empty, right?"

"Yep. The last employee left just as you came back."

"Good."

I started dumping the gas along the wall of the building.

"Em, you need to set up to film the lighting of this."

"Got it."

Em walked away to get to where the video recorder was. It had recorded everything thus far.

"Okay, Ed. I paused the recording."

"Ready to get up, my darling?"

"Damn straight I am. The ground is cold and this fake blood shit is not warm. So un-realistic."

* * *

I wrapped Bella in my coat so no one noticed the discoloration of her dress and she walked away.

Once she was out of film shot, I signaled Em to start filming again.

I stood right where Bella should have been and threw a light lighter on the ground.

No more body to find.

I yelled for Em to pack up and I took off to where Bella was waiting.

We all jumped into the van and went back to my place.

Em had never been to my place.

"Let me see where I got you, sweetie."

Bella removed the jacket and laid back so I could look at her chest.

The rip of the dress was right under her left breast. Right at her heart.

I ripped the hole a bit more so I could clean her chest up.

I grabbed a towel and a bottle of water and started to wash her up.

"Ouch."

"What is it?"

"I think I'm cut." Bella put her hand on her chest, through the hole in her dress. When she pulled back, her fingers were covered with blood, and not fake blood.


	12. Chapter 12

Em pulled to the lot behind my apartment.

I carried Bella into my apartment with Em trailing behind.

I laid her on my bed and removed her dress. As beautiful as she was, I needed to make sure she was okay.

Right below her breast was a two inch cut. Thankfully, it wasn't deep.

"Sorry, baby. Fake knife or not, it still needed to be sharp enough to cut your dress and the blood bags. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I've done worse to myself. It's okay. Just a flesh wound."

I bandaged Bella up and she dressed in one of my t-shirts and sweatpants.

"Em, did you make the call?" I asked as we met him back in my living room.

"Yep. You and me meet the guys that ordered the hit tomorrow at noon to get paid and to give them the proof of death."

"And then we kill them," I said as I winked at Bella.

* * *

Rose sat in the van with Bella.

I rode my bike following Em on his. We were leaving the girls parked three miles from the meeting point.

We left Rose with guns and ammo just in case but I knew Bella would be helpless if it came down to having to fight.

We pulled up into an empty lot filled with one car.

Thank god they were here first.

In all these years, this is the first time I have went with Em to get paid.

Armed with more fire power than normal, I was still scared.

Two black sedans pulled in and parked, cornering us in.

A tall, African American man stepped out of the car closest to me. Behind him was a petite blonde girl.

A shorter, white man stepped out of the other. Behind him was a brilliant red head.

The girls both went to the trunks of the cars and took out two duffel bags.

"And so we meet," said the black man as he pulled a gun on us from his waist.

* * *

Em didn't flinch. I started to but stopped. I wanted to pull my weapon so bad. I wanted to forget the money and just kill these fuckers.

They ordered a hit on an innocent woman because they thought she knew something, when in reality, she knew nothing.

"No reason to get hostile." Em held his hand out to the man. He still held his gun at Em's face but shook his hand. "I'm Em, this is my associate, Ed. Do you have the papers?"

"Jane, Victoria, bring the bags." _Oh, thank you for their names._ Both girls glared at the black guy.

"Do you have your part?" he then addressed Em.

Em handed over a folder that was sitting on the seat of his bike.

The black dude looked thought the photos that Em handed over.

"Looks like it was painful. Did she fight?"

"No, sir. She had the utmost trust in me. She told me she loved me right before the job was complete," I said. The bravado in my voice was forced. I prayed they couldn't tell.

"Very good. What is this?"

"DVD of the whole thing. I will let you know, once viewed the DVD will erase. It can't be copied, you know, safety measures."

"Understood. Do you want to count it?"

Em took the bags and opened them both. "Looks to be about two hundred and fifty K. I think we can trust it."

"Very well. It was a pleasure doing business with you. Maybe we will seek you out again."

"Agreed, on one term."

What the fuck are you doing Em? I thought.

"Tell me, I was hired by brothers, and you sure don't look like brothers."

* * *

The blonde and red head who had been silence until now both stepped forward.

"We are sisters by marriage. We hold the 'Volutri' name sake." Ahh that's why they are pissed they are taking orders. "Our brother, Aro, is in a position where he can't carry forward with the family business that our father started so we are. So, we are the 'brothers.'"

Mother fucker…I didn't want to have to kill the fucking cop.

"Ah, I see. Well, please be in touch if you need us for anything else," Em said as he stepped forward and took both ladies hands, kissing one then the other. "Ed, grab the bags, let's go."

I threw one of the duffel bags over my shoulder and Em took the other. We both hopped on our bikes and headed back to the girls.

Time to plan some clean murders…or really messy ones.

I split the cash up with Em. With the fake murder of Bella we were a quarter of a million dollars richer.

Maybe I could retire now…

Instead, I took Bella to replace the dress that I cut up and get some equipment to train Bella on how to be a killer.

* * *

I set Bella up with her own hand gun and a few other weapons.

She decided that she wanted to be a part of killing the woman that wanted her dead.

We spent a week at the shooting range getting her used to the gun.

By the end of the week, she no longer shook when she held the gun.

Armed with a small paintball gun, I drove Bella out to a field and let her practice shooting at a moving target – me.

By the end of the day, she had managed to hit me more than not.

She was ready.

We were ready.

I prayed that Bella wouldn't need to fire that weapon. I didn't want to turn her into a murder, just to keep her safe.

I called Em and we finalized the plans of killing the Volturi 'brothers.'

He was bringing the ammo...I was bringing the bait.

* * *

Ro was on the back on Em's bike, Bella was on the back on mine.

We were all in black. Black shoes, pants, shirts, and hoodies. Bella wore my clothes because where I cut her was still raw and I didn't want to listen to her bitch it was sore from her clothes rubbing on it.

We were all well equip with an assortment of weapons. Ro and I both had lighters to be able to finish the job.

We rode side by side down the street where we had our meet with Jane, Victoria, and from some research James and Laurent.

Both men were originally hired guns for the family but when the daughters fell in love they now have a seat at the family dinner table, and a bullet with their names on them.

The plan was to make this look like a carefully crafted accident.

Who wouldn't stop if they saw a dead woman on the back on a motorcycle riding right at them?

I know I sure as hell would stop, so I could kill her...


	13. Chapter 13

While Bella and I were training, Em and Ro were keeping track of the ladies. We found that every Thursday they would eat lunch with Aro and so all parties involved were together at that one time.

A mile down from the restaurant I sat with Bella on the back of my bike. Her hair was pulled up and being held with a black knit cap.

"Ed, they just pulled from the restaurant," Em said. We were connected by tiny ear pieces that he had for the rare multi-person hit.

"Okay."

"We will trail them until you are within view then I will pull up and around."

"Got ya."

"Good luck, Ed."

"You too, Em."

I kissed Bella one last time before this was over.

"Okay, beautiful, it's now or never. I am going to pull out and you are going to pull the hat off your head. We will be right in front of them. As soon as I see a weapon, Em will be here to grab you. Me and Ro will take it from there. Be safe, baby."

"You too."

She squeezed my hand as I pulled my helmet over my face and out into traffic so I was able to cut off the caravan.

* * *

The fact that we planned the hit literally in the middle of the day, when anyone could see us was tricky.

We were on a side road so most of the traffic was minimal, but there was still people around.

Just as the caravan of cars pulled down toward us I revved the engine of my bike and pulled out, driving right at them.

Bella pulled her hat off and threw it to the pavement.

We were half a block from the first car when I hit the breaks and skidded sideways.

Bella turned with me and we looked at the row of cars.

In sync they all stopped.

James and Laurent jumped from the second and third cars.

"Well, well, well. She is still alive. What a convincing DVD you gave us, Ed," Laurent said as he walked toward us. He had yet to pull a weapon.

The door to the first car opened and out stepped none other than Aro.

"So I see we have an issue here." He then turned into his car. He said a few muted words before turning back with his service weapon in hand.

"No one will second guess it if I kill you with this."

* * *

Em and Ro were nowhere in sight. They were not where I needed them.

Fuck!

There was no way I was going to get Bella out of this.

"Well, looks like we are putting your training to use. Take this and fucking shoot. Hide your body behind the bike and just fucking shoot when I tell you to." I handed Bella a twenty-two and prayed that it would be enough.

Bella jumped down and hid, while I climbed off the bike.

"You don't want to kill us, Aro. That wouldn't be in your best benefit."

"And why is that Edward? Didn't think I would look into you? I knew you were the hit man. You couldn't fool me with the whole six months together and having a baby. Come on now. A killer like her wouldn't ever mother a child."

A bullet raced past me. I looked back at Bella fearing that one of the others shot at Bella while I was distracting Aro.

But Bella was okay. I looked back and Aro was on the ground, in a pool of his own blood.

* * *

I raised my gun and set my sights on James, but that's when I saw Em and Ro. He had them back by him, blocking me from taking my shot.

I moved my sights to Laurent and Jane, but Laurent was already down. I took a shot at Jane and she fell to his side.

I looked back at Bella. She had a sadistic look on her face. She wanted blood just as bad as I did.

I turned back and took out driver number one just as Bella took out driver number two.

I looked back over at Em and Ro. Em had James and Ro had Victoria. Both pulled knives and made clean cuts at the throat.

One last shot rang from Bella's direction and took down driver number three.

In under three minutes we had committed a massacre. This was not the clean job I planned.

* * *

Em threw James and Victoria back in the cars.

I helped Em and we got the drivers back in the front seats and the passengers back in as well.

We had hoped to stage an accident or something, but now we would work with what we could.

I pulled the plate off my bike, took all the weapons out of the bag attached to it and then took a knife to anything that could link the bike back to my alias.

"Ready, Em?"

"You got it."

He drove car two into car one, then car three into car two.

I revved up my bike and let it go, flying at the cluster of cars.

The bike hit with a huge smash before a small fire burst out.

Em walked around with a can of gas and dumped what he could around the cars.

The flames grew before there was a decent explosion.

I took Bella's hand and gave her a kiss before we talked away hand in hand.

The past behind us, and a future together in front…


	14. Chapter 14

This is an outtake of my assassin couple.

After the showdown with the 'brothers' Bella, Em, Ro, and me all left. We went south and set up shop in a small Utah town.

I trained Bella and she worked side by side with Ro on smaller jobs that didn't require perfection.

I always wondered if Bella was more than she said, but after a more in depth, and accurate background check, she was just a second grade teacher.

And currently, she was beautiful in a long black gown. Her hair pulled up to the side of her head, near her ear.

This was our first hand on mission together and I was honestly nervous, but this type of job called for Bella.

She caught the eye of every man in the hall, including our mark.

Hook.

I sat at a side table, nursing a beer as Bella worked her magic.

"Love you, baby. You can do this," I whispered. Bella smiled, having heard me in her ear piece.

She took a seat at the bar next to the mark. He smiled and nudged his chair closer to her.

Line.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Bella licked her lips and turned her head toward him. Now I couldn't see her face.

 _Please don't fail. Please don't fail._

"You can buy me anything you would like."

The mark bought her a glass of wine and she took a small sip. She needed to stay sober, so I was thankful she didn't just down it.

"I know you are nervous. Loosen up. You are tense, baby." I prayed that my words were encouraging.

"I'm Bella," she said as she held out her hand to him.

He kissed the top of her hand. "Ah, Bella. What a beautiful name. I'm Marc. What brings you here?"

"Oh, just work. I needed a night to myself, so here I am." She laughed lightly and he seemed to melt.

"Well, Bella. Lovely to meet you, but I was just heading out. Care to join?"

Sinker.

He extended his hand to her and she took it.

I followed behind at a good enough distance that he wouldn't notice. They hit the elevator and I hit the stairs.

Bella tapped her mic four times. I picked up my speed to get to the fourth floor before they got there.

I stood in the stairwell waiting for them to exit the elevator.

Bella exited next to Marc, his hand on the small of her back.

They stopped outside of his room door and he pressed her against the wall. He moved in for a kiss and frankly, I was ready to kill him.

Bella held her hand up. "Let's get in the room first."

He obliged and opened the door. He walked in and Bella held back, surely looking for me.

"I'm watching, just keep the door unlocked."

I heard her release a breath and the door closed.

I walked down the hall and I waited.

"Nice room you have."

"Yes, I try to do the best I can."

"That I can see. So what would you like to do?"

"You."

There was a silence and I strained to hear what was going on in the room.

After too much time for my liking passed, Bella whispered, "Now."

I opened the door just as Marc unbuttoned his pants.

To say he was shocked would be to say the least. "Get out! I didn't order room service."

"Do I look like room service? Get over there, douche bag!" I pulled my gun on him and Bella came to stand by me, pulling her throw away from her leg.

"What the fuck?" Marc screamed as he wet his pants.

"You're dead, that's what the fuck." Bella glared.

Maybe next time I shouldn't let her read the files. After what happened with her, we did our own checks to make sure the hit was warranted. This guy was a rapist and when he didn't rape, he damaged condoms to try and make little devil offspring.

His hands were high in the air; he walked to the far corner of the room. His pants fell down to around his ankles.

"Can I, baby?" Bella asked.

"Sure you can."

And she took the shot.


End file.
